Eagle County wages still lag behind Colorado average

Workers in the Vail Valley earn $11,000 less than state average

Tourism and recreation dominate the regional job market. Those jobs tend to pay less than many other professions, which explains the $11,000 gap between the average Eagle County wage and the Colorado state average.Northwest Colorado Council of Governments

Wage survey highlights:

Jobs: +1.9%

Unemployment rate: 2.4% (Feb. 2019)

Regional Population: 119,779

Fastest growing towns (2010-2017)

Silverthorne (+18.8%) - Pop. 4,639

Frisco (+15.9%) - Pop. 2,977

Granby (+12.0%) - Pop. 1,813

Gypsum (+11.1%) - Pop. 6,926

Basalt (+9.1%) - Pop. 3,849

5-Year Job growth in Key Industries (2013-2018):

Construction (+32.3%)

Healthcare (+22.8%)

Accommodations & Food Services (+10.9%)

Professional, Technical, Scientific (+16.3%)

Management of Companies & Enterprises (+64.5%)

Average Annual Wage:

Eagle County: $46,124 (+3.4)

Grand County: $36,920 (+4.7%)

Jackson County: $39,416 (+11.8%)

Pitkin County: $50,700 (+0.2%)

Summit County: $43,004 (+4.8%)

State of Colorado: $57,408 (+3.5%)

The data is from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, Q3 2018. The full report can be found on the NWCCOG EDD website, as can past reports.

EAGLE COUNTY — If you work in Eagle County, your annual wages went up 3.4% last year but your paycheck still lags more than $11,000 behind the state average.

The Northwest Colorado Council of Governments’ latest wage
survey found that in Eagle County, workers earn an average of $46,124 a year.
That’s up 3.4% year-over-year, but it’s still $11,000 less than the state
average of $57,408.

Tourism jobs pay poorly

Local average wages lag because the regional economy is
dominated by the tourism industry and the low-wage jobs it tends to generate,
Rachel Lunney, the NWCCOG’s Economic Development District Director explained.

In Eagle County, 45% of all jobs are tied to the tourism industry in some way — accommodation and food services (8,061 jobs), retail (3,560 jobs) arts/entertainment/recreation (3,287 jobs). The ratios hold true in three of the four other NWCCOG counties: Pitkin, Summit and Grand. Across the region, 48% of the jobs fall into that sector, Lunney said.

“A quarter of Eagle County’s jobs are in accommodations/food service sector,” Lunney said.

While local wages lag the state average, the number of Eagle
County jobs rose 3% to 33,033 in 2018.

Across the NWCCOG’s five counties — Eagle, Summit, Pitkin, Jackson and Grand — 78,230 jobs are held down by 84,446 workers. Unemployment across the region is 2.4%, 2.6% in Eagle County — essentially full employment.

“We’re dealing with full employment and then some,” Lunney
said.

The drive to affordability

Besides tourism, the five counties share the workers that make it work, and the commutes they’re forced to make.

Many Lake County residents commute to Pitkin, Eagle and Summit
counties. Many Park County residents commute over Hoosier Pass to Summit County
and Breckenridge.

High housing costs drive many of those residents to drive, says
a 2018 Housing Demand Study.

“As households stretch to find and retain housing in a tight market, the proportion of their income spent on housing increases, leaving less for food, health care, childcare, transportation, and retirement savings,” that study says.

When a household spends more than 30% of its income on
housing, it’s considered “cost burdened.” If that’s more than 50% they’re “severely
cost burdened,” the study says.

The lower your income, the more likely you are to spend a higher percent on housing, the study says. About 64% of all households that earn less than 60% of the area median income are cost burdened; a third are severely cost burdened.

Of renters, 38% are cost burdened, compared to 10% of
owners.

About 2,000 midvalley households (about a quarter) are cost burdened. About 21% of down valley households are, and 19% of up valley households, the 2018 study said.

Let the record show that at Friday’s grand opening of the Eagle River Park, they had to crank up the volume on the P.A. system because the river was roaring so loudly. “And that’s a good thing,” Eagle Mayor Anne McKibbin said.